You’re driving along and some guy with no brains and no brakes takes you out in an intersection. You cheated death but are in a coma in the hospital. Without a DPOA, your loved ones are powerless to deal with financial accounts and assets that are titled in your name only.

With stock markets riding the escalator up-up-up in recent years and then taking the elevator down these last couple weeks, here are a couple of principles to help us keep both gains and losses in context.